Whispers in the Wind
by rowanred81
Summary: Fantasy AU set in Arcadia Bay! Currently a one-shot, but I might add smaller bits here and there. Chloe Price has a secret that she never thought could be shared. That is, until a certain freckled brunette came back into her life after 5 years... Typed from a Chloe-centric perspective. Abilities! Transformations! Revelations! Pricefield fluff! Enjoy :)


**Whispers in the Wind**

The forest around Arcadia Bay seemed to stretch for miles to Chloe as she took it all in; the trees, the brisk air that came with October mornings, and the wild animals that lived in the wilderness called to the blue-haired punk more times than she had fingers and toes. Splayed out before her in a rich landscape that seemed to never end, Chloe didn't want to turn her head and see the small coastal town that had been her home since birth. Pushing herself through the treetops, the bluenette shot straight up with her arms outstretched as her booted feet left the ground and embraced the open air.

 _Oh man, the forest always looks so fucking cool from up here._ Chloe Price loved to fly, her dazzling blue wings full extended as the held her aloft. Arms outstretched as far as they would go, Chloe sped off just above the forest canopy. Despite the autumnal chill and wind that was hitting her in the face, she seldom felt more alive than when she took to the sky. Feeling playful, Chloe lowered herself a few inches more and let the leaves graze her tank-top and reaching fingers with a look of childlike glee. Spinning in a corkscrew-like fashion, Chloe wanted to scream and cry out from the exhilaration but restrained herself. _Always need to be careful, Chloe._ _This is so amazeballs, though. I'm flying! I know I do it almost every goddamn day, but hella fucking yes. Hella fucking YES!_

As a rule, Chloe tried to do as much flying as possible. Not being able to find many places aside from the forest, the bluenette had come to see the woodland area outside Arcadia Bay as an escape, her secret refuge from a world she believed herself to no be a part of anymore. At least, not entirely. When her wings had first appeared a few years ago, she'd been terrified and had hidden in her room for the entire weekend. Terrified of showing her mother, Chloe had buried herself in every blanket she could find with a hoodie as the last resort. The familiar grey cotton had belonged to her childhood friend, Max Caulfield; despite the other girl leaving Chloe behind when her family moved to Seattle, Chloe took solace in the cotton jacket. The blue scale-like plates had first formed straight down her spine before spreading to her shoulder blades when a set wings had appeared.

Bursting through the back of her t-shirt, Chloe had bit her lip so hard she drew the slightest amount of blood to curb the horrified scream threatening to reveal itself. Having to scream into one of her pillows more from terror than pain, Chloe had watched from her full-length mirror as a pair of semi-transparent, ethereal wings simply appeared on her back. Proportioned to her size, the wings resembled those of a blue morpho butterfly and Chloe had been hesitant at first to even look at herself in the mirror. Chloe had first used her shoulders to try and make them move before realizing that she only needed to think of them moving for it to happen. _How…? How did these…? Where did they come from? I mean, I_ know _they're in my back but_ WHY _are they coming from my back? And why the fuck do they have to be fucking butterfly wings? Why couldn't they be, I dunno, raven wings or something? I'm not a fucking fairy!_

Spending the first couple hours watching the wings spasm as she began to try and control them with more effort. Her fear giving way to an increasing curiosity, Chloe found that if she concentrated the wings would move almost like an extra set of arms or legs. Chloe's remaining worry dissipated under a fit of quiet giggles as she saw papers and books scatter from the gust her wings had caused, having fully extended wings for the first time. Keeping herself locked away, Chloe had tested the wings repeatedly until she was able to awkwardly hover inches off the floor without dropping herself after a few minutes.

Chloe's mother and then-boyfriend, _le stepdouche_ as Chloe occasionally referred to him despite knowing full-well his actual name, had thankfully left her alone the first weekend with her new ability when she'd compromised to crack her bedroom door open for the arrival of meals. It hadn't been her first instance of locking herself away. When Chloe's biological father William had been killed in a car accident, she had been incredibly depressed and refused to get out of bed for days. Things had only escalated when Joyce had tried to coax her out of hiding, Chloe locking the door until a familiar knocking came from the hall.

 _My little, freckled nerd of an angel,_ Chloe thought as she currently hovered over the trees. Chloe's only saving grace in the time immediately after William's death had been Max Caulfield, Chloe's childhood best friend. Biting her lip to try and stop herself from smiling, Chloe remembered fondly weekend sleepovers and going on make-believe adventures with the diminutive, freckled girl who had been something of a shelter when Chloe's father had passed. _You held my hand and held me together, Max. You hugged me and sang me to sleep when the crying was too much_.

Chloe's memories a mixture of tender affection and bitterness that came often when her old friend was brought to mind. _You left, though. You left_ me _, Max,_ Chloe thought to herself as she tilted her body to the left to head back in a wide turn. _Max left not even two weeks after Dad was gone, fucking packed up with her 'rents for Seattle. I mean, well, I_ know _it wasn't her fault. Max's parents needed hella cash and they sure as fuck weren't going to find it in the "Land of the Living Hicks". I've just been down my winglady for five years, dude, and you never called or wrote me, Max. Heh. "Winglady"._

Smirking, Chloe halted her progress to hover slightly over the forest's edge as she looked past the treeline towards Arcadia Bay.

"Home Sweet Shithole," Chloe muttered as she felt her phone vibrate. Rolling her eyes in frustration, Chloe pulled out the smartphone and tapped on the screen. "Yello 'ello? Call fo' Chloe."

"Chloe," the bluenette heard her mother say over the phone in a weary voice, the sound of a sizzling griddle and people talking in the background, "Don't forget that you're supposed to be at Two Whales in an hour."

" _Yes,_ Mother Dearest," Chloe said with an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes as she continued to hover, eyes glancing around intermittently to ensure no one was watching, "Mom, seriously, I've been hella timely about work. You should totally be proud you haven't had to pull a 'Bueller? Bueller?' in regards to yours truly."

"Well, this is different," Joyce said, piquing Chloe's interest with the seriousness in her voice, "The, well, the Caulfields are here."

"…Get the fuck out," Chloe stammered, the filter that halfway processed her thoughts and words seeming to disappear for a moment, "Um, I mean that's a'ight, I guess…"

 _Max. Holy fuck, Max is back in town?_ Chloe had to take a couple of breaths as her mother talked over the phone, the beanie-clad punk feeling her wings begin to beat so quickly her entire body was vibrating slightly. _Chill, Chloe. It's just…It's just the girl you thought you'd never see again. Like,_ ever _. What am I supposed to fucking say to that news?_

"Hey, Mom, I'll see you in an hour," Chloe said with stifled anxiety, "I-I kinda need to process what you just said."

Hanging up on Joyce, Chloe slowly lowered herself into the forest. Passing through the canopy, Chloe sat on a branch that was halfway down the tree it emanated from and pulled out a cigarette. _Mom would kill me if I baked before work. She nearly did the one time I showed up high. Word to the wise: do_ not _piss off your boss, who also happens to be your mom._ Smirking at the memory, eyes bloodshot as she just grinned idiotically at an irate Joyce before getting sent home from the diner, Chloe toked and blew the smoke out of her nose after holding it in to let the nicotine buzz come. Chloe didn't normally bake and fly, but this news was serious enough that she needed her nerves to calm down. The town can get boring really fast, plus it was small so there weren't many places she could pull off something like her aerial explorations. _If people knew this about me, they'd hella freak. Chloe Price, punk delinquent and…well, whatever the fuck this is. Just don't call me a goddamn fairy. I'll fly so fast that when I punch you I'll send your ass flying, too!_ Touching down in the woods by Arcadia Bay's junkyard, her "American Rust", Chloe stretched her arms out as the sensation of her wings faded away. She couldn't feel them in the way she guessed actual winged animals felt their wings, but there was always a sensation like her back popping when they appeared from the blue plates and disappeared. _I wonder where they go, or how the fuck they actually come out. It's not like they're retracting or whatever – I think I'd feel that._ The wings of birds were part of their limbs, whereas Chloe's wings were something else entirely.

Picking up her jacket from under the tree she had left it at, Chloe brushed off the dirt before slipping the brown leather onto her person. Popping her neck and back, Chloe headed down the small hill and began to cross the junkyard toward her old truck. _I_ could _just fly home if I wanted. I mean, I can't but it'd be so fucking cool if I actually could. That'd be fucking rich, seeing the look on stepdouche's face as I just landed in the backyard while he's tossing down another beer._

"Surprise, mothafucka! Literally. You're fucking my mom, asshat!" Chloe said, snorting at her own joke as she climbed into her vehicle. Pulling out of the junkyard, Chloe spun the truck around and headed down the old dirt road that eventually led her to the highway and the town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon. "Once more unto the bullshit, dear hillbillies."

* * *

Two Whales was in its off-peak hours between breakfast and lunch when Chloe came in though the back door. Slipping into the over-sized closet that served as a locker room, Chloe slung the backpack off and locked braced the door shut. Over the years since her the blue scales and wings had appeared, Chloe had managed to keep her abilities and change a secret through a combination of sneaking around and covering up as much as she could. While not the most modest person, Chloe understood that she couldn't really trust anyone with her secret; as a result, bathrobes and swimming after hours when she did swim had become vital. Shuffling out of her jeans and tank-top, Chloe pulled on the skirt and blouse that made up the uniform Joyce had given her when the bluenette had said she needed a job.

"Come to Arcadia Bay for the edumacation, but stay for the bright future waiting tables and dealing with assholes! Apply today!" Chloe said to herself quietly, a crooked grin on her face as she checked herself in the mirror. "I'm surprised Joyce hasn't asked me to cover up my ink. Oh well."

Turning around to give her back a once-over, Chloe nodded when she saw that her back was adequately covered, the scale-like covering starting a little under the nape of her neck and ending just at the small of her back. _Mama and Papa Caulfield, huh? Mom said "The Caulfields", though, so maybe Max will be with them. Five fucking years, Maxaroni. You even miss me, you goddamn hippie?_ Letting out a forceful sigh, Chloe psyched herself up for what she thought would be a tense encounter and headed out towards the dining area.

"Chloe, I want you to behave when you go and take the Caulfields' order, okay?" Joyce asked as her daughter came through the kitchen. "Max, well, she doesn't look too well and Vanessa told me she's been sick for some time now."

"W-What?" Chloe's cool demeanor was shaken at the news. _Max is sick? Has been sick for a while?_ Looking from across from where she stood by the jukebox, Chloe realized just how close she was to her childhood best friend. Sitting in the booth along the wall which was shared by the jukebox and a number of customer photographs were Ryan, Vanessa, and Max Caulfield.

Ryan and Vanessa were sharing a bench together as they shared a menu, casting glances at their daughter intermittently for what seemed like fear she might break if either of them stopped paying attention. Max, on the other hand, was staring down at her menu as it lay on the table. Sporting a black beanie and a grey hoodie and torn blue jeans, Max's face was obscured slightly by her chestnut locks. Chloe wanted to peek, wanted to pull Max around so that she could get a good look at the girl who'd left her behind without so much as a word. Mostly, though keeping herself in check, Chloe just wanted Max to hug her. Chloe froze when Max's head twitched as the brunette pulled her hood up to further conceal herself. Smirking at the brunette's shy behavior, Chloe looked at her mom and mouthed _Still Max Caulfield_.

Chloe's surprise outweighed her sarcasm as she walked over with a pad and pen in hand. _They've been here this whole time, for an hour. Waiting on me, perhaps?_

"So, the Caulfields return from their long adventure in the city that is Seattle," Chloe said, flashing Max's parents a smile as they looked up at her in mild surprise. "Oh come _on_ , Mama and Papa Caulfield. I know I look different but not that different."

"…Chloe."

The bluenette felt a tingling sensation run up her body at the sound of Max saying her name, the soft voice having almost a melodic quality to Chloe. Looking in Max's direction, Chloe's grin vanished when she got a look at the shy brunette's face. _Oh, Max. Maxaroni…_

Haggard, with bags under her eyes, Max's blue eyes seemed almost glazed over as her too-pale skin was broken out with a familiar spread of freckles that seemed even more distinct than she remembered. Watching the other girl's eyes close and open slowly like she was half-asleep, Chloe thought that Max shouldn't even be here if she felt half as bad as she looked. _You look like you need to be in bed, dude. Never mind that you're_ here _, Max, but you're a fucking mess._ Chloe figured she must have been pouting because Max's cheeks went scarlet and the girl lowered her head into folded arms that had been placed on the table.

"Aww, Max. Don't hide, nerd. I'm not gonna bite, I swear." Chloe couldn't figure out if she was trying to sound reassuring for Max's sake or her own. _Will I behave? Can I behave? Five years._ "It's not like I haven't seen or heard from you in, oh, five years…"

"… _Chloe_ …," the brunette's muffled whimper nearly broke Chloe's heart. Nearly.

"Anyway, have you all decided what you want?" Chloe turned her attention to a nervous-looking Ryan and Vanessa Caulfield. _Not you guys, too. Fuck, I am hella intimidating but not_ that _intimidating_. "You three need to chill, seriously. I'm just here to take your orders."

"R-Ryan and I will share an order of crab cakes and fries with a refill on our coffees," Vanessa Caulfield said before looking over at her husband questioningly. Stretching her arm out, Vanessa gently placed a hand on Max's shoulder. "Max? Sweetie? You hungry?"

"…m'not hungry," Max's weak voice was almost too muffled for Chloe to understand. _You won't even look at me. You're just going to hide. What the hell, Max?_

"…You could at least look at me, Max," Chloe didn't notice the edge creeping into her voice, nor the way Ryan and Vanessa looked at each other. The bluenette's attention was focused solely on the girl hiding under a beanie and hood. "You can at least do that, Max. It's been five years and all you have to say is 'Chloe'? What the actual, factual fuck."

" _Chloe_ ," a stern voice from right behind the bluenette made her freeze in place as Joyce came around and smiled apologetically at the customers. "I'm sorry about that, Vanessa. Chloe's a little more hot-headed than she used to be. Chloe, why don't you just head on home and I'll take care of this."

"Mom, I'm sorry. I just-" _Fuck. I didn't mean to get worked up like that, Mom. I swear I didn't._ "Fuck it."

Ignoring the heated look her mother was giving her and the awkward glances Max's parents were exchanging, Chloe spun on her booted heel and walked into the kitchen. Hurriedly changing into her street clothes, Chloe was irritated at how poorly things had gone. Mostly, however, Chloe was mad at herself. _Five years and I'm pretty much an asshole. Goddamnit, Chloe, did you even_ see _how bad Max looked? She's sick as fuck and all I could do is bitch and get pissy. I'm as bad as those shitbags in Black-Hell._ Stuffing the uniform in her backpack, Chloe stuffed a cigarette between her lips and opened the closet door to see her mom waiting for her.

"Joyce, _Mom_ , I am _so_ fucking sorry. I-I didn't mean to get like that-"

"I _know_ , Chloe," Joyce said, her anger replaced by what looked like a weary sadness. "It's my fault. I should've just given you the day off and called someone else in. I just thought, well, I _hoped_ that maybe you and Max could mend fences. She's moved back here."

"…What?" Chloe's eyes widened with a puzzled look on her face. "I don't think I heard that quite right…"

"Her parents moved into Vanessa's grandmother's place. Remember? That old two-story a few miles out of town? I talked her up some after I called you. They moved back to get Max away from the city, something about the air and woods of her hometown being good for her…"

"Mom, this is fucking amazeballs!" Chloe's grin made Joyce visibly ease up as she chuckled a little at the look of happiness on her daughter's face. "I get my best friend back!"

"You're off to a bad start, as far as that goes," Joyce chided reluctantly. Chloe's smile wavered to a faint grin.

"Shit. Are they still here?"

"They better be. Their food's cookin' and I don't plan on just lettin' it go to waste."

Joyce left Chloe as she went back out to the dining area, and the bluenette made for the back door. Pulling out a lighter as the rear exit swung shut behind, Chloe lit her cigarette and took a long drag while leaning against the diner's wall. Shifting in her jacket a little so that the scales didn't cling to her tank-top, Chloe exhaled the smoke into a sequence of increasingly larger smoke rings until she noticed that someone was watching her. Looking over at the chain-link fence, Chloe choked on what smoke was still in her system at the sight of a grey hoodie and torn jeans.

"…Max?" Chloe asked, cautiously approaching the fence until she was standing a couple feet from the thin metal separating her from the short brunette. "Hey, dude, I'm sorry-"

Chloe stopped mid-apology as Max lifted a hand up and weaved her fingers through the chain-links so that they were sticking out on Chloe's side. Her own hands a little shaky at the unspoken request for touch, afraid of Max pulling her hand away at the last second, Chloe hesitantly lifted her own hand and intertwined the blue-nailed fingers with Max's. Sniffling to hold back a sudden urge to cry, Chloe watched Max lift her head up and saw a pair of iridescent blue eyes watch her silently. _Say something, Chloe. Play it cool. She's literally reached out for me, so I gotta fucking behave._

"I-"

" _I'm sorry_!" Max blurted out in a whisper, Chloe taken aback. "I'm so sorry, Chloe! I didn't want to move, and then I got really sick. I've been…I've been sick for so fucking long, I pretty much begged my family to come back when they said we were moving again. Please don't hate me. Please..."

"Fuck. Max, I've never hated you. I just wish that you would have called me or something. I'm sorry to hear you were sick," Chloe walked up to the fence and slipped her other hand into the chain-link, Max matching the gesture with her own until both girls had their one another's fingers fully intertwined. "A-Are you okay?"

"I'm getting better now that we're, well, out _here_ ," Max said in a breath, the little brunette's fingers squeezing Chloe's slightly. "I missed you _so much_ , Chloe."

"I missed you too, Maxaroni," Chloe said, the smile on her face growing when she saw Max stifle a laugh. "What?"

"No one's called me that since you last did, Che," Max said, her use of Chloe's old nickname making the bluenette smile even wider, "You're the only one who ever did."

"The use of 'Maxaroni' is exclusive to me, Maxie. I claim it just like I know you claim calling me 'Che'." Watching Max blush made Chloe want to rip the fence down so she could hold the brunette. _This is more like it. This is what I want, what I need. Max being hella cute and back with me._ "My step-dad is pretty much Hitler, so I can't promise a lot of fun, but you want to come over? We could hang out, watch movies. My room's not like you remember it, though. Ooh, we could get stoned together, or drunk. Maybe _both_ …"

"I don't think I'm ready to join the revolution yet, Che," Max said with a smile, "How about you come to my house tomorrow? There's lots of woods and we have a pond on the property. We can get _hella_ stoned out there, away from anybody snooping."

"I thought snooping was your gig, nerd."

"I'm too anxious about keeping things to myself these days to go into detective mode, _dork_."

"Hippie."

"Delinquent."

"Hater."

"Punk-ass."

"Chickenshit!"

"Problem Child!"

Both girls laughed as they leaned into the fence, their faces parallel as they just looked each other over. _I wish you were feeling better, Max. You don't deserve whatever it is you got going on._ Exchanging phone numbers, Max had giggled when Chloe complained about the smiley face she'd sent. _Fucking smiley-ass emoji shit, Max. Jesus fuck._

* * *

Chloe was lying back on her bed that evening, a lit joint in her hand as the phone she was holding up. Amanda Palmer on her Hi-Fi, Chloe barely noticed her own music as she weighed texting Max versus waiting for Max to text her. _It's just Max. She's sick, but still a shy little nerd. What if she won't text me back, though? What if she was just being nice and I'm hella screwed? …What if she's waiting for_ me _to text?_ Taking a drag of her pot, Chloe rolled her eyes in frustration at herself.

"When the fuck did I switch back to being 12? This isn't fucking dinner with David. It's _Max_ ," Chloe said with a self-deprecating tone as she opened the messaging app and began to type with her joint-free hand.

 **Chloe: Yo Maxaroni**

 **Chloe: You need some Chloe for there to be Maxaroni n' Che, dude**

 **Chloe: Maaaaaaaax. PICK UP, NERD.**

 **Chloe: PICK UP** **PICK UP PICK UP PICK UP!**

 **Max: You sound like a demented pokemon, Chloe. Pickup-chu! LOL**

 **Max: I'm here. Voila!**

 **Chloe: Took long enough, hippie!**

 **Max: ur a stoner so who is the REAL hippie here, Chloe Elizabeth Price?**

 **Chloe: U are, MaxINE Caulfield!**

 **Max: UGH**

 **Max: UGGHHHHHHHHHH :(**

 **Chloe: NO EMOJI! Also, don't use my full name and expect me to not use yours**

 **Max: :(**

 **Chloe: Goddamnit, Max. No. Fucking. Emoji.**

 **Max: I should totally just hit you with every emoji I have on my phone.**

 **Chloe: I'm not ready to read the Book of Max, Max**

 **Max: Repent! The smiley is nigh!**

 **Max: Soooooo… What's up?**

 **Chloe: I want to come over**

 **Max: You are. Tomorrow.**

 **Chloe: I wanna come over nowwwwww**

 **Max: I'm not home, actually.**

 **Chloe: Oh.**

 **Chloe: Where you at?**

 **Max: ...Out.**

 **Chloe: So you're healthy enough to go out but not enough to see your "best friend"?**

 **Max: That's not how it is and you know it, Chloe. You KNOW it isn't like that.**

 **Chloe: Whatevs. See you tomorrow. 'Night.**

Letting out a frustrated moan, Chloe switched her phone off and looked out the window. The clear night sky reflected off the barely visible waterfront, stars twinkling in a darkness that seemed to draw Chloe's thoughts in. Putting her joint out and stowing the remainder of it in her jacket pocket, Chloe slipped on her boots and climbed out the bedroom window facing towards the street. While it wasn't too late in the evening, Chloe had no desire to come under the watchful gaze of her stepfather. _Stepdouche on watch, no doubt. Asshole's always looking for a reason to just tear into me. You're not even my dad so just fuck off, David!_ Smiling at the chilly air, Chloe dropped to one knee and hung over the roof's edge before landing on the driveway as quietly as she could manage.

Pulling out of the driveway with her foot barely on the gas pedal, Chloe waited till she couldn't see her house before hitting the gas like she normally did. Arcadia Bay dwindled away through her windows, the more densely populated part of town she lived in turning into the more scattered outer fringe before all was replaced with trees and moonlight. Heading toward the junkyard, Chloe turned her radio on and let The Clash blare away about how London was calling. _London can have you dudes. The sky's calling my name._

The night sky was still clear when she pulled in to her getaway from Arcadia Bay, and currently, from the frustration that she was feeling. The truest form of liberation she had come to know, Chloe only thought of flying and how nice the air would feel as she skimmed the treetops. Leaving her jacket in the truck, Chloe pocketed her keys and phone only to feel the device vibrate almost immediately after it was stored. _Could be Max_ , Chloe thought as her hand slipped into her pocket only for her to pull it back out. _No. No, fuck that. Today at the diner was hella confusing and this shit on the phone is only making it worse. Ugh, maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just too much of a goddamn fuck up. Get your shit in order, Price!_ Shaking her head, Chloe elected to wait until she was done flying before checking her phone.

The forest felt like as much of a home to Chloe sometimes as her shed in the junkyard or her _actual_ home. _When step-dick isn't around, that is_ , Chloe frowned at the thought of David sitting in her real father's chair at the dinner table. _David sitting on the couch with Mom. David and,_ ugh, _hell NO._ _Uh-uh, not going there._ Popping her back, Chloe felt a light pop follow after her movement and saw the wings appear. She had touched them, once, and the sensation had felt like something between a solid and a liquid. They were partly tangible, and Chloe could instinctively knew when they were moving, but she felt no sensation from them. _Like phantom limbs or something_. Letting herself hover around a bit, Chloe slowly made her way closer to the canopy and took a seat just under the leafy forest ceiling.

"Think I'll just chill a bit," Chloe said to herself as she pulled out the half-smoked joint from before. "Screw it. I need this."

Taking a short puff, Chloe kept the smoke in and let it settle in her lungs before she blew it out her nose. _A fire-breathing, butterfly-winged whateverthefuck. That's me._ A smirk playing across her lips, Chloe brought the doobie to her face and looked at the ember tip. While the moonlight played through narrow spaces the canopy didn't cover, the ember looked like it could light the entire world to Chloe, it seemed so bright to her. _I am so fucking high right now._ Laughing at herself a bit, Chloe took another drag and leaned against the trunk of the tree she was perched on. Dangling her legs on either side of the thick branch, Chloe straddled the tree and leaned back in relaxation. The canopy looked to Chloe like an inverse, green ocean; the leaves rippled in the slight breeze with pale slivers of moonlight piercing into the forest's depths. Chloe couldn't make out much of what was at the forest floor, she was so high up in the tree she was reclining on, but the ground was immeasurably mysterious to her in that moment. She wanted to explore the forest on foot, like she and Max used to do.

"Max…," Chloe's pensive expression turned into something dark and pouting. "Ugh, I'm hella confused. I just _don't know_ what I should be doing! She's here and I'm stoked… but she's here and I'm terrified. What if she doesn't like who I am now? She talked to me for all of a few minutes. I can't expect her to just jump into bed-"

 _Why the fuck did I say "bed"?_

 _Oh…oh, shit. Nonononono, I-I don't, I_ can't _, like Max that way. I fucking can't! Shit hell goddamn stupid-ass motherfucker!_

Flicking the roach of her joint, having burned down to a stub, Chloe felt her balance shift and let out a sharp cry as she began to fall. Her wings sluggish in their compliance, Chloe's decent was reduced in speed dramatically as the forest floor grew startlingly closer but the deceleration was not enough. Able to bounce herself off a low-hanging branch, Chloe landed with a _thud_ on the ground and immediately cried out in pain. Her tattooed arm hanging limp at an odd angle, Chloe felt the pop of her wings disappear and winced at the echoing pain it caused to her dislocated shoulder.

"Nnh, this fucking hurts," Chloe said aloud to no one in particular as the arm moved. "Dude, this is so weird. It's like I just got out of an MMA match or some shit."

Chloe got to her feet tried to come up with some means of popping her shoulder back into place. Thinking to something she remembered from a rerun of _Xena: Warrior Princess_ , Chloe ran shoulder-first into a tree and gritted her teeth at the pain. Nothing. Stepping back a good distance, Chloe ran at the tree again and felt a wet _pop_ as her shoulder was blessedly put back in place. _Now I just need to work on my spinning flips and the acquisition of a faithful, nerdy sidekick…_ A snapping sound, like something cracking a twig under its weight, echoed from nearby. Her eyes widening in dread at the thought of someone having seen her, _Seen me with my_ wings _, oh shit,_ brought Chloe's attention around with a swift turn of her head. The darkness under the canopy at night not being something she was used to, Chloe pulled out her phone and ignored the messages from Max before turning on the LED flash used for the phone's camera. Waving the back of her phone around to fill the immediate area in front of her with a dim light, Chloe looked around nervously, afraid of what she'd see. _What if it's a person? What if it's an animal, like some pissed bear or whatever?_ _"Killed by a bear" will not make a good epithet for my tombstone._

"Yo, if someone is out here you better fucking speak up! I'm not playin' around, dude! Come out, come out and all that shit!" Chloe shouted, her free hand cupped to her mouth. "I heard you fucking moving around so show your-"

"..Uh, hey Chloe…"

"Max? What the fuck?!" Chloe jumped and spun around to see Max Caulfield standing a few yards away. Her hoodie gone, Max was wearing a simple pink tank-top along with her jeans and beanie but something was different about the freckled brunette. _She seems so alive_ , Chloe thought, examining the radiant smile on the shorter girl's face. "Dude, I thought you had the plague or some shit."

"N-No, no plague. I needed to stretch my legs, so I went for a walk," Max's shy tone matching her awkwardness as she bashfully looked away from an inquisitive Chloe. "Heh, my w-walks always end up lasting hours, though. Oh no, my parents are gonna kill me…"

Watching Max pull out her phone, Chloe observed the brunette in closer detail. A few leaves sticking to her tank-top, small dirt marks on the jeans, the most curious thing that drew Chloe's attention was the lack of _anything_ on Max's feet. _It's gotta be in the 50s or somewhere near, and she's barefoot. Her house is three miles away from the other side of town._ Chloe's attention was so focused on Max that she nearly forgot that Max might have seen something the little brunette shouldn't have.

"Hey? Um, Max?" Chloe asked, wincing as she moved her injured shoulder around to try and get it to stop making popping sounds. Max's voice was curt, the bluenette surprised by how harsh Max sounded. _Everything not sunshine and rainbows at the Casa de Caulfield?_ "Max, can we talk-"

"No, Mom. I'm out with Chloe. Yes, _Chloe._ No, I don't know when I'll be home. Uh-huh, well, I'm fine right now so just let me be with my friend, okay? Yeah, I'll make sure. Uh-huh, okay. Bye," Max switched her phone off and pocketed it before looking over at Chloe with a glower before a weary smile came across her face. "S-Sorry. I don't feel well very often so when I do I kinda bail on my parents. Freaks them out, but I can't just sit in my room all day and night."

"What about earlier at Two Whales, then? All three of you were out then."

"Yeah, but I wanted it to just be _m-me_ ," Max said, rolling her eyes. "They know I'm…sick, but it doesn't mean I'm fragile all the damn time. Swear to Dog, no one needs parents as smothering as mine.

"You wanted to come to Two Whales on your own?" Chloe tried and failed to hide the enthusiasm she felt.

"…I wanted to… I wanted to see you, Chloe."

Chloe opened her mouth to respond only let out a huff as the air was expelled from her body, Max running straight into her and hugging the punk. Her arms outstretched instinctively, Chloe only hesitated for a second or two before her arms curled around Max. _She's here, for real. My Maxaroni came back. Well, not_ mine _, I guess. She's fucking here, though, and that is amazeballs on its own._

"Max, I don't want to kill the mood but I have to ask. Did you-"

"I saw you flying, Chloe," Max flat delivery did nothing to ease Chloe, and the bluenette found her legs suddenly very rubbery as she began to fall. _She saw. She knows. Max knows and I'm likely fucked. Shit._ Chloe watched what light she could discern begin to fade and realized with only a second or two left that she was passing out. _I'm…I'm fainting…?_

 _That's hella fucking gay._

"Chloe? Chloe, wake up."

The sing-song manner of those words didn't snap Chloe out of it as much as start to lure her out from being unconscious. _Sounds like music_ , the bluenette thought as her conscious mind began to re-emerge. Aware of the cold air and the feeling of fingers combing through her hair, Chloe took in a deep breath through and felt a pleasant chill pass into her body. Her head was laying on something soft, something covered in fabric. Chloe parted her lips and took in a shallower breath than before, slowly opening her eyes to see a familiar pair of eyes looking down at her under a partly contained mess of chestnut hair.

"…What happened?" Chloe's disorientation passed slowly and she found herself remembering what had happened before she passed out. "Max…?"

"I'm here, Che," Max's soft voice cooed from just above Chloe's head, the slim fingers scratching softly at Chloe's scalp in sync with the brunette's reply. "You fainted, dork. I-I didn't know what to do, so I just laid your head in my lap to avoid you lying in the dirt. I've been watching over you."

"Well, aren't you a mushy little nerd," Chloe smiled, carefully reaching up to brush some of Max's hair behind her ear. Seeing the bashful smile on Max's face brought a smile to Chloe's face, and the two just remained where they were as minutes rolled past. Chloe felt her beanie sitting on her chest but didn't care to put it on, Max's fingers felt too good to the punk as they gently combed through her blue hair. _Feels pretty nice_ , Chloe thought to herself.

When they finally did get to their feet, Chloe's attention once returned to the unspoken questions she had for Max. _How'd you find me, Max? Why are you here? Also, um, where the fuck are your shoes, dude?_ Max blushed at the intense look on Chloe's face until the bluenette realized she was staring and looked away.

"So… How'd you find me?" Chloe asked simply.

"I… I called Joyce, asked her where you were. When she told me some of the places you hung out I went looking for you…" Something about Max's response seemed off to Chloe but she set that aside when she saw Max dig her toes into the earth under their feet.

"Tell me you have shoes somewhere around here, at least. It's hella bitey out and you're fucking running around with your toes in the dirt."

"Oh, they're over there," Max said, shrugging before pointing to a tree a few yards away that had an old camera bag nestled against it.

"'Kay," Chloe took a couple breaths before saying what came next. What _needed_ to come next.

"You saw me."

"The wings?"

"…That answers that," Chloe pulled her beanie on, wanting to hide from everything until she felt a smaller set of hands keep it from getting tugged over the bluenette's eyes, "Max… Max, this is important. You _can't_ tell anyone, okay? _Anyone_."

"I-I wouldn't even if you weren't super-cereal about it, Chlo," Max said before putting a hand to her forehead, clutching at the beanie she was wearing before yanking her hood on, "I-I… I gotta go, Chloe. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Max? Max, what's wrong-" Chloe cut her sentence off mid-sentence. "What the fuck?!"

As quickly as she appeared, Max had vanished into the trees. Chloe stood in silent befuddlement, the questions she had for her childhood friend only increasing. Pulling out her phone, Chloe saw the how late it was and cringed before dialing up her mother's cell phone.

"Chloe?" Joyce asked, her voice giving away the fatigue. Chloe rolled her eyes when she heard David mumble something incoherent in the background but said nothing as Joyce coughed away from her phone.

"Yeah, Mom. I got a question. Did you tell Max where I might be tonight? When she called you?"

"Chloe? What on Earth are you talking about? I haven't heard or seen from Max since the diner. Is there… oh _hush_ , David… Is there something wrong with Max?"

"No, Mom. Just… I guess I'm hella tired, too. Thought I saw her, that's all." _Something wrong with Max?_ "I'm heading back now."

Chloe hung up on her mother and stared at her phone as Max sent a single message wishing Chloe pleasant dreams. Chloe almost answered back but pocketed the device instead. _Something wrong with Max? I honestly don't know, but I'm sure as fuck gonna find out._

* * *

When Chloe rolled up to the Caulfields' house the following day, on one of Chloe's actual days off, Ryan Caulfield had apologetically left her waiting at the door for a few minutes. _Getting some answers, time meow._ The more Chloe had thought about it before she'd finally passed out last night, the more it bothered her that Max had both been surprisingly cool with the wings _and_ had flat-out lied to Chloe's face about calling up Joyce for directions. _Maxie, you got some explaining to do…_

"Go on up," Ryan said, ushering Chloe inside before pointing to the staircase. The whole house was set up like an oversized log cabin, two-storied with wood walls and floors. The entire first floor was almost completely open save for a bedroom and the bathroom. _If Max is upstairs then Mama and Papa Caulfield must be sleepin' down here. Isn't the upstairs bedroom the main one, though? Livin' the high life, Max?_ Flashing Max's father a polite smile, Chloe climbed the stairs and knocked on the bedroom door located at the top of the staircase.

"C-Come in," a weak voice said from inside the bedroom, rough and pained. "Wait. Mom? Dad?"

"…Chloe," the bluenette said, her hand on the doorknob, "It cool that it's me, Max? You gonna let me in, dude?"

Chloe heard a sigh and almost blurted out a biting remark before hearing Max choke back a faint sob from behind the door. Feeling the knob turn as it was unlocked from the other side, Chloe stepped back as Max opened the door.

"…Oh fuck, Max…"

As pale as she'd been yesterday, Max was bundled up almost entirely in a down comforter, the only clothes Chloe could make out being the same beanie from last night and a hoodie that partly covered the brunette's face. Hearing and seeing the rough way Max was breathing, Chloe's anger and hurt faded away as she reached out to hold her fragile-looking friend.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked before rolling her eyes. "Of course you're not. Fuck, dude, you look like shit."

"Nice to s-see you, too, jerk," Max managed to get out before another fit of coughing started. Letting Chloe lead her back to the bed, Max laid down and watched as Chloe locked the bedroom door and climbed into bed alongside. "I-I'm sorry for bailing last night, Chlo. I… I guess I kinda got scared…"

"…Of me?" Chloe didn't know she was frowning until she saw Max pout with her lip quivering.

"N-No! No, not you," Max's hands shot out from the bedding she was bundled in and took Chloe's hands into her own. Something about the sudden desperation in Max's voice and face made Chloe feel oddly reassured. "I'm, well, I'm scared _for myself_."

"Color me hella confused, Maxie," Chloe sat up, still situated alongside Max's bundled form, and looked down at the brunette with a perplexed expression. "Do you think I'm going to hurt you or something…?"

Another sigh escaped from the small brunette and Chloe watched as Max seemed to come to a decision of some kind. Max slid off the bed and stood, motioning for Chloe to come to the side she was at. Chloe scooted over and sat facing the brunette, their eyes meeting for a few seconds before Max dropped the blanket. Chloe looked away, not wanting to embarrass Max by getting a look at what could possibly be the sight of her best friend naked from the waist down.

"I'm n-not naked, Chloe. Look at me. _Look_."

Shifting her gaze incrementally, Chloe looked and saw with a mix of relief and disappointment that Max's legs were in a pair of sweatpants. Feel a heat on her face, Chloe almost turned away out of embarrassment. Not pausing for more than a handful of seconds, Max unzipped her hoodie and pulled off both the light jacket and her beanie, her hair surprisingly longer than Chloe had thought it'd be. Seeing chestnut locks run down to right above Max's shoulders from the corner of her eye, Chloe looked back and felt her eyes threaten to eject from their sockets.

"Y-You have… You have pointy ears," Chloe's tone was one of awe as she observed. "Not Galadriel-long, but still pointy."

" _That's_ what you n-notice, Che?" The use of her nickname brought Chloe's attention back to Max's face…and what was protruding from Max's forehead.

Pale and slender, a set of nub-like antlers began to take form. Chloe wanted to reach out and touch them, her innate curiosity taking over, but held herself back when she saw the look of pain on Max's face as they continued to grow until the extended out a foot or so. Branched out with a few extensions each, the antlers retained their paleness and slender shape. _Whoa_ was Chloe's sole comprehendible thought as Max took the blue-nailed hand and put it to one of the antlers. Seeing Max's lip curl in what seemed to look like pleasure, Chloe ran her hand along the length of an antler and wondered at how smooth it was. _Holy shit. Holy motherfucking shit. She's… Max is like me. She's different like me…_

The differences in Max didn't stop at her antlers and ears, however; unlike Chloe's blue scales and hidden wings, Max's transformation altered her features a bit more. Faint spots, like the spots on a deer, began to form at her collarbone and ran down the length of her arms. Chloe looked down when she heard a stomping sound and nearly cried out in shock at the sight of deer hooves proportional to Max's body where the brunette's feet should have been. Black like a deer's, the hooves had chestnut fur where they started in at Max's legs.

"What the…?" Chloe was speechless, getting a chuckle from Max. _There's that odd musical tone again,_ Chloe thought as Max chuckled a little more. _Her voice sounds so…melodic…_ "Uh, does the fur…?"

"It matches the drapes," Max said with a wink, leaning over to kiss Chloe on the forehead.

"You dirty-minded little shit," Chloe said with a crooked grin before realizing that Max had grown in height with her change, the brunette now as tall as Chloe was when standing. "I was going to ask if the fur stopped where your… where your hooves…uh, started…?"

When Max smirked, Chloe flipped the brunette off before realizing what Max was doing.

"You're showing me yours because you caught a peek at mine, aren't you?"

"Pretty much, Chloe."

"Were you ever going to show me… _this_ , if you hadn't seen my wings?"

"In time. I needed to figure out-"

"…If you could trust me…"

"W-Well, yeah. I mean, I _wanted_ to trust you from the get-go, Che. It's why I sought you out, why I tracked you-"

"Is that how you found me last night? Scent or smell or-"

"When I touched you outside the diner," Max laid out her palm and Chloe placed her hand in Max's instinctively, "I took in your essence. Like an echo of who you are, so that I could find you no matter what."

"Stalker."

"Creeper. Hiding out in the woods an' shit."

"Hippie."

" _Fairy_." Max's teasing struck home and Chloe looked away with her face turning scarlet.

"Am _not_." Chloe knew she was acting like a child but didn't care. "I hate being called that-"

Max pulled Chloe's face back around with a finer hooking the bluenette's jaw. Leaning in so that their faces were only inches apart, Chloe felt her heart beat faster as Max's hot breath came across her face in small puffs. _Holy fuck, what are you doing? Max? Max, are you… are you gay, too?_

"…C-Can I?" Max's voice was like a verbal aphrodisiac to Chloe. _Your lips, Max. Your lips look so delish…_

"What?" Chloe asked, her voice seeming far away as she fixated on Max's glistening lips.

"…I've, um, I've never kissed anyone before. With all _this_ going on," Max motioned at her antlers and hooves, "It's kinda hard to find a girl who'd want to kiss me. Keeping this hidden takes effort and it hurts after a while, so-"

"Max."

"…Yeah?"

"What the fuck are you waiting for?" Chloe licked her lips and looked up from them to see Max's eyes watching her with a sweetness that Chloe thought would make her heard break entirely.

"S-Sorry. I'm nervous." Max said, turning her face away as her cheeks reddened. Chloe, smiling, took her finger and hooked Max's chin before pulling the other girl back so they were face to face once more. _Heh, my turn_ , Chloe thought with an amused expression.

"Less talk, less shy, and more kiss," Chloe barely got the words out of her mouth when Max leaned in and softly placed her lips on Chloe's. The lips were probing, curious and inexperienced but Chloe didn't mind. All the bluenette could think about was how soft and warm Max's lips were, now inviting.

 _I'm not alone. Max is here, and I'm not alone._

Chloe was extra careful to not wake Max up as she left the upstairs bedroom. Shifting into her true form had been a relief for Max, but she was still exhausted and in pain from disguising herself for an extended period of time. Chloe had unveiled her wings prior to Max getting some sleep, however, and the bluenette smirked to herself as she felt the door click shut behind her.

"So _this_ is why you wear tank-tops, Che?" Max asked in awe as she brought a hand close to one of Chloe's blue morpho wings, "Wowsers, I-I can see through them. Well, kinda."

"I don't know as much about them as I'm guessing you know about what you've got goin' on, Maxaroni," Chloe said, sitting across from Max on the bed. Her legs folded underneath her, Max looked to Chloe like a mythical creature with her spots, antlers, ears, and hooves. _I guess she_ is _a mythical being of some kind. So am I, I suppose._ _But I'm_ not _a fairy. Not a fucking fairy._ "Dude, this is so fucking cool. I get my best friend back, and I can _finally_ talk to someone about all this crazy-ass shit!"

"You're such a fucking dork," Max teased only to bite her lip when Chloe slid both her hands across Max's antlers. " _Unh_ , that is _so_ not fair, Che."

"Who said I play fair, hippie? Besides, you know you like it."

"I… _unh_ , I do. Don't know why, but I totally do," Max had said as she raised her shaking hands up and gently pulled Chloe's hands off the antlers, "But that doesn't mean you need to do it _all the time_. I would, h-however, like…um, I'd like another…"

"You want another kiss?" Chloe had asked, watching in adoration as Max's nose scrunched up when the brunette smiled. Chloe leaned in and kissed Max, their lips and tongues exploring each other's mouths. Chloe had kissed other people, but there was something different about kissing Max. The touch of the brunette had lit Chloe's nerves up, a flooding warmth nearly overtaking her as though Max were breathing fire directly into her with each move of her tongue and lips.

Now, heading down the stairs, Chloe felt nearly as light as she did while flying as she hopped down the stairs. Seeing Vanessa Caulfield come around the corner with two steaming mugs, Chloe came to an abrupt halt and froze in place, a knowing grin on the face of Max's mother halting the bluenette in her tracks. _Oh shit._

"Mama Caulfield, I swear we weren't doing anything-"

"Come into the kitchen, please. Let's talk, Chloe." Neither a demand nor a request, Chloe thought the words sounded more like something final, an inevitability.

The kitchen was set along the wall opposite the staircase with a small dinner table nestled into a nook. Taking a seat in the nook that was across from Vanessa's, Chloe took the offered coffee and smiled when she looked at the mug's contents.

"Did you actually remember how I take coffee? I think you only saw it the one time, Mama C," Chloe was surprised but also appreciative. _None of them really forgot me. I knew Max wouldn't, though her nerdy ass never wrote or called. This, however, is a nice fucking surprise._

"I remember. You were so adamant when we went with your you and your parents to Seattle for the weekend. 'The original Starbucks!' You and Max were so excited to have a coffee from there. I couldn't believe William let you have one, never mind a _large_! You two were so wired, God, it was like human firecrackers…"

Chloe snickered while Vanessa sipped at her own coffee before placing it down. Chloe took a drink from her own mug and peered over it to see Vanessa's expression turn serious. Setting her mug down, Chloe wiped at her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket and looked expectantly at Max's mother. _This is gonna be hella awkward._

"When Max turned 14," Vanessa started, "She would get these pains in her chest and head. Doctors couldn't tell us anything, and believe me, Chloe, we _looked_. The longer it went on, unfortunately, the more she missed and we had to take Max out of school."

"My side of the family has, well, we have something in our blood that isn't…isn't human. The Native Americans called my foremothers 'Deer Women', a term given to spirits of nature that could assume a human-like form save for a few telltale signs," Vanessa paused, looking over with a warm smile to see Chloe paying rapt attention, "They claimed those women led people to their doom, but the truth is that the men and women they encountered left the tribes because they fell in love. It wasn't sudden, with a disappearance in the night. My mother, while nowhere near as changed as Max, had some of that blood fired up inside. Oh, you should have seen her run, Chloe. I remember watching her sprint through the trees behind this house like she was barely touching the ground. Never play hide-and-seek with a deer woman, Chloe. They're too fast and you'll never catch them unless they want to be caught."

 _Wow_ , _you all have legends and folklore and shit. I've got nothing but guesswork and a distinct lack of anything credible_ , Chloe thought as she marveled at Vanessa, Max's mother having taken a break to finish her coffee. _I wonder if Max's change is a generational thing. Mama C said something about Max's grandma, and it sounds like it skipped Vanessa altogether._ Nursing her own now-lukewarm coffee, Chloe looked at Vanessa intently.

"Is… Is what Max has going on the reason you moved?" Chloe was hesitant to ask, not wanting to ruin the ease she felt. Still, she had to know; Chloe preferred the idea of Max and her family leaving because of the little brunette's condition and not _just because_.

"Not at first," Vanessa said, cupping her hand over Chloe's as the bluenette's look of dejection. "Ryan's job called for it, Chloe. You know Max didn't want to leave you, and she wrote you a lot."

"…But I never got a letter or an email. I never heard from her…," Chloe didn't want to think about it, Max's years-long radio silence. _She's here now and we can be amazing together. We_ are _amazing together. At least, I hope we are…_

"She was scared, afraid you were mad at her. Try not to be too mad; when the shifting started, the first thing she tried to do was run away back here to Arcadia Bay."

Chloe took this new revelation in silence, waiting for Vanessa to continue with her family history and how Max was running back to Arcadia Bay. Instead, Vanessa surprised her with a more relevant topic.

"Chloe, how does Max sound to you?"

"Um, she's pretty beat. Tired but, I dunno, happy…?"

"No, that's not it. What I meant is this - how does she _sound_ to you?"

"Um," Chloe pondered the question, unsure how to answer. _What is she wanting to hear? Shit, I'm so confused. Too much info. Chloe crash, Chloe fail at life. Mehhhh…_ "…Sometimes her voice, well, it sounds almost like music to me. She's just speaking and it becomes the sweetest thing I've… She sounds amazing. Ugh, I'm getting mushy. I need to smoke." Chloe made to get up but Vanessa held her hand down to the table.

"Chloe, this is serious. Tell me, have you two…well, I mean…"

"Ugh, what? Mama C, that is hella awkward! We… we kissed some, and she let me touch her antlers. That's it, though. It was weird, though. She got a thrill every time I so much as laid a finger on them…"

"Oh God, she's bonded to you," Vanessa said in a low whisper, sighing as she ran her hands through her hair in a display of resigned exhaustion. Chloe looked at her in puzzlement and decided to sit back down. _Bonded?_

"Uh, 'Bonded?' What the hell is that, like we're-"

"She's imprinted on you, Chloe." Vanessa Caulfield's voice sounded a lot older than it had only a moment ago to Chloe as the older woman pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one before putting it to her lips. When offered, Chloe took one of Vanessa's smokes and lit up with her own lighter. "It happens when those in my family who shift, well, mate."

"Excuse me?"

"She likely doesn't even realize it has happened. Oh, Max, you're too young for something like this to already happen… My mother didn't bond with my father until she was in her 20s. Max, you're only-" Vanessa continued until she saw the warning look on Chloe's face and cut herself off.

"I'm only what?" Max asked, coming into the kitchen to get a soda. Nudging Chloe to scoot over, Max plopped down in the nook's bench seating and looked at her mother with a curious expression as she popped open the can and took a sip. "You two were talking about me, I know you were. Spill."

"Nosy 24/7, Maxaroni. Nosy in the morning, nosy in the evening…" Chloe teased awkwardly, flashing a weak smile only to wilt under the cheerful gaze of the smaller girl. _I can't even fake being happy around her. The more I see her the more I want to just curl up with her._

"…Nosy at suppertime. Heh, Bagel Bites," Max snickered faintly as she took another sip of her soda before leveling a serious look at both Chloe and her mother. "Talk."

"Your mom thinks you imprinted or something on me and now we're totally bonded for life and I think I might be in love with you and shit is really fucking confusing so Imma go bye." Chloe blurted out before climbing out of her seat, over the table, and running out the door. _What the fuck just happened?! I didn't mean to say any of that shit! Ugh, is this Max or is this me? Fuuuuuuuck…_

"Chloe!" Max and Vanessa both called after her, but she was already gone.

"Where'd she go?" Vanessa asked, pointing at the still-parked truck.

"…I'm going to find her, talk to her." Max said, shifting back into her deer-human form before running into the forest.

* * *

"Fuck!" Chloe said, tears running down her face as she flew through the trees, "Fuck fuck fuck!" _Is what I'm feeling even real_?

Chloe had ditched her jacket in the Caulfields' front yard and sprinted into the forest, barely a minute or so into the dense woodland before taking flight. Buzzing past ancient trees that anyone else would never think of seeing the top of, Chloe knew better but didn't care presently; she just flew, escaped as fast as she was able to. _I made a fucking idiot of myself in front of Mama C…in front of Max… I can't, I mean is this some fantasy or is this real? Am I in some weird-ass thrall or are these feelings mine? Argh, I hate this shit!_ Wiping her eyes, Chloe didn't notice that she was flying headlong toward a tree until she narrowly missed it and smacked into a branch to avoid ramming massive tree trunk head first. Struggling to maintain her balance, Chloe felt her left side twinge with fresh pain where she had collided with the branch and cried out in pain before biting her lip to squelch the sound.

"Chloe?" Chloe heard Max's voice and looked down to see her now-antlered friend running through the trees toward her faltering self at a pace that the bluenette figured could match her own flight speed.

"Go away, Max!" Chloe yelled before turning around and raising her hands as she flew once more into a dense grouping of leaves. "Agh, motherfucker!"

"Chloe Price, you come down here right now and talk to me!" Max shouted, stomping a hoof. The tone of Max's voice was alarmingly severe, Chloe not remembering Max ever sounding that mad when they were kids.

"Max… Max, just chill, a'ight? I'll, fuck it, I'll come down."

Chloe held her injured side as she slowly descended, looking down to see Max watching her observantly. The pursed lips and arms folded across her chest only further emphasized how angry Max was; Chloe felt genuinely worried about the prospect of incurring her best friend's wrath. _Max, you don't understand. Ugh, why the fuck couldn't Mama C have kept her mouth shut about the imprint-bond fuckshit?_ When her feet touched the ground, Chloe's wings faded away; the removal of their added buoyancy and support in helping keep her upright made Chloe nearly fall over until Max caught her in mid-fall. Looking at Max as she was gently ushered over to a tree to sit against, Chloe gave the fuming antlered girl a weak grin.

"Chloe, if you weren't hurt I would shove a hoof up your ass, you jerk!" Max snapped, the watery look of her eyes giving away to Chloe that the anger was routed in fear. _Did you think I was never coming back? Are you worried about me?_

"Max, I'm-"

"An asshole!"

"Well, yeah, I guess I am. Your mom… she hit me with some heavy stuff, dude. I don't think you even know about half the things she told me…"

"What, the history of her side of the family? The folklore, how _this_ can skip generations?" Max gestured at her antlers and hooves to no avail, Chloe refusing to outright tell the brunette. _I can't say it, Max. If I say it, you might fall apart like I am right now and I don't want that for you._

"What, are you afraid you might get Lyme Disease because you're a smartass dork who will probably never stop teasing me about being-"

"I would _never_ tease you about being you, Max. I might joke and call you nerd or hippie, but I would never make fun of who you are." The serious tone in Chloe's voice took Max aback, and the brunette's expression softened a bit. Chloe winced and let out a sharp breath. "Oh man, I think I bruised _all_ my ribs. I'm just thankful I didn't feel anything break…"

"Let me help. I can carry you back."

 _Nuh-uh. No fucking way, Max. I'm not some weak little shit._ "You are _not_ carrying me-"

"Stop acting like you're such a fucking boss all the time, Chloe, and just let me help you."

Chloe scowled and pulled her beanie down to cover her eyes as Max gently lifted her up. Huffing when the brunette let out a dry snicker, Chloe felt her legs swept out from under her and realized Max was actually carrying her. _Does super-strength come with your ultimate form, Caulfield?_

"This is deershit," Chloe mumbled as she wrapped her arms around Max's neck so that her side could be stabilized more. "You suck."

"…'Deershit'?"

"Instead of bullshit. 'Cause, y'know, you're a mythical deer lady and you poop."

"Ugh, I hate you."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't."

"Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you set me down, please? I want to talk while not being carried in your arms like I'm a bride. Hella awkward, dude." Feeling her boots touch the ground very gently, Chloe pulled up her beanie some and let Max lead her to an old tree stump. Taking a seat, Chloe saw Max look at her awkwardly, holding her arm with the other hand. _Still Max Caulfield, you hella shy nerd._ Chuckling to herself, Chloe patted the space next to her. "Take a seat, Pete."

"You sure?"

"When a seat is offered, the polite thing to do is at least be acquiescent. Take the seat, Max."

"Do you even know what 'polite' means?" Max asked as she sat next to Chloe, wincing as she shifted back into her human form, " _Ugh,_ never mind the use of 'acquiescent'. What big words you use."

"The better to hella trip you up with," Chloe said, chomping her teeth a few times. When Max rolled her eyes and let out a faint laugh, Chloe felt herself settle down a little further. "Max, did your mom ever tell you… Do you know what, uh, what bonding is…?"

"It's what other deer women do when they mate," Max said flatly before her eyes widened, "Oh my Dog, did my mom say that I was bonding with you?"

"More like bond _ed_ , Maxaroni. I'm just trying to figure out how this works, dude. I'm 19, you're 18. I'm, well, I'm kinda terrified," Chloe reluctantly admitted as she playfully nudged Max with her shoulder. _Ow_ , Chloe winced at the shifting weight making her injured side twitch, _I shouldn't have done that…_

"How do you think I feel? You just told me that _my mom_ told you I have imprinted on my best friend!" Max exclaimed, running a hand through her hair in exasperation. "Chloe, I don't even-"

"Do you love me, Max?" _All in, Price. Now or never, I guess._

"…I think so. I mean, before I left I think I was c-crushing on you. We spent so much time together, I figured it was just me caring for you as a friend. W-When…," Max collected herself, "When I left I was so miserable, Chloe. I wrote you every day b-but I was too scared to send them. I thought you'd hate me for leaving you."

Chloe put her arm around Max and swallowed a lump in her throat when the brunette leaned her head onto Chloe's shoulder.

"Max, I've never hated you. You're my best friend. I was, fuck, I was the same way. I wrote you a fuck-ton but never sent anything, afraid more of not getting a response than of never hearing from you at all. Heh, we can be chickenshits together, yeah?" Chloe sighed and ran a hand through Max's chestnut hair. "Whatever this is, I feel wonderful and I _know_ that I love you. It's like you're a fucking hardcore batch of weed, dude. I get near you and my whole world spins. Do you even know the thing with your voice?"

"What about my voice?" Max asked, the last half of her sentence turning melodious.

"You seriously don't know you're doing that? Max, your voice sounds like music to me half the fucking time. Legit music, melodies playing with my brain. You just did it!"

"I didn't mean to!" Max's whimper and defensive tone only drew Chloe in further, and she placed a hand on Max's thigh in reassurance.

"Max, I'm not mad. I'm just saying that sometimes it is like the world bends, warps, and all I can manage to see is you," Chloe said before realizing that her face was once again mere inches from Max's. _I can feel the heat coming off her, like ripples of life washing over my skin. It's like electricity and the cool feeling after a swim all rolled into one. Pretty epic._

Leaning in a bit further, Chloe brushed her lips against Max's and was met with the gesture responded in kind, Max's eyelids heavy and half-shut as Chloe looked to find her hands had moved to where Max's antlers normally grew out of. Rubbing her thumbs against the small areas on either side of the other girl's forehead, Chloe saw the sheepish grin on Max's face as her eyes closed in contentment. Sliding down her hands until they rested just under Max's jawline, Chloe brought herself in and kissed Max. Chloe noticed the lips were just as soft as before, Max's breath was warm and tasted good to her as she ran her tongue against Max's parted lips. Smiling in mid-kiss, Chloe felt Max's tongue slowly make its way into her mouth and began to rub her tongue against it as their lips parted and met once more in succession. Chloe's eyes being closed, she felt Max climb up to sit on her lap and wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist. Max's legs were hanging loosely, Max sitting perpendicular to Chloe as she cupped the bluenette's cheeks with her fingertips.

"Is this… _mmm_ …how you… _unh, Chloe_ …how you decide whether you want to try us out as a relationship…?" Max asked between nibbles as Chloe worked her mouth down to the crook of Max's neck.

"I…have no idea… _mmm_ …what the fuck you're talking about," Chloe said, biting down a little to leave a hicky on Max's shoulder as she nibbled. Pulling herself away from Max's collarbone, Chloe leaned her forehead against Max's and smiled.

"How about we just _be_ , Max? No labels, no bullshit. We were already best friends, dude, so being bonded for life sounds hella adventurous. You down?" Chloe softly bit Max's lower lip and pulled back a little before letting go, an impish grin on her face as Max's eyelids fluttered.

"Wowsers…"

"I'm going to take that as a yes."

"You better, fairy punk princess."

"Whatever, Shitting Deer."

"Asshole."

"Ass _wipe_."

"Dork!"

"Nerd!"

The two girls giggled, the brunette leaning on the blue-haired girl's side before smiling apologetically as her partner winced before faintly chuckling. The forest echoed their laughter and happiness faintly, the sound like pleasant whispers in the wind.

 **Author's Note –**

 **Wow, this went longer than I had originally hoped it would. It's still a one-shot, but damn. Not sure if I'll ever hit the level of daily typing I did with my vampire AU, but I did this in about 10 hours or so…**

 **I hope you enjoyed this. The "Deer Woman" is a mythological being from Native Americans, originating in Oklahoma. For the purpose of this story, I changed the locale and some of the attributes given to the beings so that Max would have physical differences that could be more on par with Chloe's.**

 **Read, review, and I'll see you all later!**

 **Stay hella, Cinnamon Rolls :)**


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